Hazardous Air Pollutant (HAP)

Definition - What does Hazardous Air Pollutant (HAP) mean?

Hazardous air pollutants are chemical or physical contaminants that may be responsible for the onset of significant health problems. These pollutants may be the byproducts of corrosion activities such as rust or particulate matter from activities such as abrasive blast cleaning.

Hazardous air pollutants are also referred to as air toxins or toxic air pollutants.

Corrosionpedia explains Hazardous Air Pollutant (HAP)

The impact of these substances is often the cause of medical conditions such as cancer, birth defects and/or genetic mutations that are passed down over generations.

The Bhopal Gas Tragedy of 1984 is an example of a well-known significant release of a hazardous air pollutant that had major impacts on the life and health of people. During the incident, a hazardous air pollutant known as methly isocyanate was released that caused the death of over 16,000 individuals.

Strict industrial guidelines are in place to prevent such incidents from occurring again when working with or producing hazardous air pollutants.